Newton to Sker

Follow the A4106 into Porthcawl. Left turn at roundabout just outside town for Newton village. The village dates from the 12th.C. The Church of St. John's was founded by the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem 800 years ago and was originally built as a fortress.



To the south of the church is St. John's Well where weary pilgrims drank from the its 'healing' waters. These days weary travellers have to choose between the Jolly Sailor and the Ancient Briton.

Walk along Beach Road and you come to Newton Beach. It is a long sandy and rocky beach, backed by Newton Burrows and Merthyr Mawr sand dunes (designated a site of special scientific interest) and ending at the mouth of the River Ogmore at Ogmore-by-Sea.

Walk along Trecco Beach towards Porthcawl Harbour. It is a large sandy beach and although Trecco Bay holiday park is situated alongside it, it is non-commercialised and unspoilt.

A contrast with the next bay along, Sandy Bay. This is the area known as Coney Beach with a fairground and donkey rides. Sandy Bay hosts the Christmas morning swim where 3 to 4oo swimmers, many in fancy dress, have braved the waters since 1965. This event draws in thousands of spectators and raises thousands of pounds for local charities.

Past the promenade of Porthcawl you see the Rest Convalescent Home built at Rest Bay with the help and advice of Florence Nightingale.

Rest Bay is popular with surfers. The event pictured here is the annual 'Elusive Welsh Open' held on October 12th 2008.

The 800 year-old mansion known as Sker House has recently been restored. Sker House was originally founded by the monks of Neath as one of the 'granges' or farms to support the abbey. It was immortalised by R.D. Blackmore in the novel, 'The Maid of Sker'. Blackmore, who also wrote 'Lorna Doone', spent his childhood close by in the village of Nottage.

Sker Beach is the most westerly beach in Porthcawl. On April 23rd, 1947, the Samtampa was wrecked at Sker Point. Her crew of 39 perished and all 8 volunteer crewmen of the Mumbles lifeboat were lost while attempting to rescue her.

Bishop's Wood to Brandy Cove

Park at Caswell Bay car park - free between October and March - just off the B4593. The Nature Reserve has been wooded since at least the 17th Century.

The Roundhouse was built in 2003 by Davydd Davies-Hughes. It was inspired by a study of a medieval cathedral spire.

Holtsfield, adjoining Bishop's Wood, is a community of 27 small, single-storey chalets built during the interwar years.

On the other side of Caswell Bay Road lies Brandy Cove. The name derives from the days when alcohol and tobacco were brought ashore illicitly during the 19th. Century. Small boats loaded ore here from the lead mines that were worked nearby. Legend has it that a witch called 'Old Moll' once haunted Brandy Cove.

A more chilling tale and one based on fact involves a young woman called Mamie Stuart who lived in Caswell Bay Road and went missing in the winter of 1919. In November, 1961, 3 pot-holers discovered a human skeleton which had been sawn into 3 pieces. Mamie's bigamist husband was the likely suspect but he had died 3 years before the discovery. Her remains are buried in Bishopston churchyard. Is this the shaft where the bones were discovered?

All Slade Mine also known as Bishopston Mine was a small lead mine first recorded working in the latter part of the 18th. Century. It reopened as the Bishopston Silver-Lead Mine from 1850 - 1853. The pump was never able to adequately cope with the influx of water. The only recorded output was 10 tons of lead ore in 1853.